A Feast of Folklore : The Bizarre Stories Behind British Food

An adventure into the bizarre history of British food, told through generations of folklore. A Feast of Folklore leads you down the dark alleys of British food history to meet the gloriously eccentric folk and the food they used in everything from magic spells to medicine. From rubbing lardons on warts to drinking flaming raisins soaked in brandy, and from festivals and fairs celebrating the world's largest apple pie, tales about food have been passed down in hundreds of years of folklore. Why do people hurl themselves down a hill in pursuit of a wheel of cheese? Why are hot cross buns hung from the rafters of a pub? Why do farmers shoot their shotguns through the branches of apple trees? The questions may be peculiar, but the answers are all peculiarly British. In twelve chapters packed with more titbits of folklore than a Stargazy Pie has fish-heads, A Feast of Folklore brings dark magic and deadly delicacies back into the home, where they belong.